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Govt. opposes Indian bridge, tunnel link to Sri Lanka

Leader of the House University Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella told media yesterday that Sri Lankan government was against India’s plans to build a bridge between Rameshwaram of Southern India and Thalaimannar.

Commenting on Indian Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari’s Wednesday statement to the Lok Sabha that India was set to build a sea bridge and tunnel connecting Sri Lanka, the Minister said that Sri Lanka would not agree with the proposed project.

“We are against it because people of Sri Lanka are opposed to it. We cannot let India build a sea bridge connecting Rameswaram with Thalaimannar,” the Minister told a group of journalists yesterday.

Indian Minister Gadkari on Wednesday in a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha has said: “The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is ready to fully finance a bridge-building project connecting Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka. The project was also discussed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his counterpart during the latter’s recent visit.”

The India-Sri Lanka connectivity project cost is pegged at about 24,000 crore of Indian rupees.